Griz close out tournament schedule in Fresno

The Montana softball team will wrap up its early-season tournament schedule this weekend when the Grizzlies play five games in three days at the Bulldog Classic in Fresno, Calif.

It will be Montana's fourth trip this season to California. The Grizzlies opened their season at the NorCal Kickoff, then traveled to the Bay Area the last two weekends for the Silicon Valley Classic and Stanford Invitational.

Montana takes a record of 4-16 into the tournament, with games scheduled against UC Santa Barbara, Fresno State, Cal Baptist and former Big Sky Conference rival North Dakota.

The Grizzlies will get a repeat matchup against UC Santa Barbara. Montana lost to the Gauchos in its third game of the season, 11-6 in eight innings at Davis, Calif., as part of the NorCal Kickoff.

Weather for Fresno is projected to be mostly sunny this weekend, with daytime highs in the upper 50s and low 60s.

As for Missoula, it's still in the grips of a late winter, which is a concern considering the Grizzlies are scheduled to make their home debut in a three-game series against Utah Valley on Saturday and Sunday, March 16-17.

All steps are being taken to have Grizzly Softball Field ready to go, with a decision on the feasibility of the series being played getting made the middle of next week.

The schedule:

Friday, 3 p.m. (MT) -- vs. UC Santa Barbara
Friday, 8:30 p.m. (MT) -- at Fresno State
Saturday, 3 p.m. (MT) -- vs. Cal Baptist
Saturday, 6 p.m. (MT) -- at Fresno State
Sunday, 10 a.m. (MT) -- vs. North Dakota

At a glance (UC Santa Barbara) -- After opening the season with three wins in four games, including victories over Sacramento State and Montana, the Gauchos (4-11) have dropped 10 of 11. UCSB, which has had six games cancelled, enters the Bulldog Classic on a six-game losing streak.

At a glance (Fresno State) -- The Bulldogs will be making their home debut this week with a record of 8-6. Three of those losses have come to teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. One of FSU's wins was an 8-0 victory over Cal Poly, a team Montana defeated 4-2 last weekend in Palo Alto.

At a glance (Cal Baptist) -- The Lancers are 4-11, with two losses to nationally ranked Texas A&M and a 0-2 record against teams from the Big Sky Conference, a 6-1 loss to Northern Colorado and 2-1 setback against Sacramento State. One of Cal Baptist's wins: 8-0 over Fresno State.

At a glance (North Dakota) -- The Fighting Hawks, who have the most wins of any team in the tournament field, will enter the Bulldog Classic on a four-game winning streak and with a record of 9-10. UND has a win over then No. 25 Long Beach State and two victories over Michigan State.

The week in review:

North Dakota State 5, Montana 2 -- The Grizzlies jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a Cami Sellers two-run single in the third. Trailing 3-2 in the top of the sixth, Montana put runners on first and second with nobody out but was unable to score. The Bison added two in the bottom of the sixth.

Stanford 7, Montana 3 -- The Grizzlies tied it 1-1 in the top of the third, but the Cardinal scored two in the fifth and three in the sixth to break the game open and ruin a solid start by Tristin Achenbach. McKenna Tjaden hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh, the first of her collegiate career.

Montana 4, Cal Poly 2 -- A two-run double by Katie Pippel in the second made it 2-0, and the Grizzlies went up 4-0 in the fourth on an error and RBI single by Tjaden. Colleen Driscoll picked up win No. 3 of the season, No. 20 of her career, with 5 1/3 innings of effective work.

Stanford 8, Montana 0 -- The Cardinal scored seven in the first, three before any outs had been made, three more on a bases-loaded triple, and handed the Grizzlies their first shutout of the season. Montana had at least one runner on base in all five innings.

Northwestern 4, Montana 0 -- The Grizzlies were limited to three hits and just four base runners as Danielle Williams struck out 12. The No. 23 Wildcats scored two in the third, added a solo home run in the fourth and went up 4-0 in the fifth on back-to-back doubles.

Montana notes:

* Montana scored a run in 18 games to start the season, a program record, before being shut out by Stanford and Northwestern on Saturday and Sunday.

* The Grizzlies' loss to No. 23 Northwestern on Sunday dropped them to 0-13 all-time against ranked opponents. Eight of those losses have come by shutout.

* Montana batted .200 in five games at the Stanford Invitational. Its opponents: .346. Maddy Stensby, with three hits in 10 at-bats, had a team-leading .300 batting average. Lexi Knauss had a team-high four hits.

* The Grizzlies had five extra-base hits at Stanford: McKenna Tjaden's home run, a triple by Lexi Knauss and doubles from Katie Pippel, Cami Sellers and Maygen McGrath.

* Montana's team ERA in five games at Stanford: 5.01. Its opponents: 1.31.

* Montana's top five batting averages for the season are all from underclassmen: Maygen McGrath (.368), Jessica McAlister (.333), Lexi Knauss (.306), Cami Sellers (.284) and Brooklyn Weisgram (.277).

* Montana has a 20-game ERA of 5.08, exactly two runs per game more than last year's 3.08 that ranked second in the Big Sky.

* Lexi Knauss went hitless against Northwestern on Sunday, just her fourth time in 20 games going without a hit.

* Montana did not strike out against Stanford on Saturday night despite losing 8-0. Nine times in 20 games this season the Grizzlies have struck out three or fewer times.

* Montana played in Fresno State's tournament in 2015. The Grizzlies went 0-5 while getting outscored 25-7 by Providence, Fresno State, South Dakota State, Cal Poly and Minnesota.

* Montana is 0-1 all-time against UC Santa Barbara, with this season's meeting the teams' first.

* Montana is 0-2 against Fresno State. The Grizzlies lost 5-1 at Fresno State in its first season, in 2015, and lost to the Bulldogs 7-0 in Seattle in the 2017 NCAA tournament.

* Montana has not faced Cal Baptist.

* Montana is 8-5 against North Dakota, but the Fighting Hawks have won four straight, all coming last season. UND swept a three-game series in Grand Forks last March, outscoring the Grizzlies 10-1, and ended Montana's season with a 3-2 victory in Ogden, Utah, at the Big Sky tournament.

* Lexi Knauss, with 22, ranks second in the Big Sky in hits. Maygen McGrath (21) ranks third, Cami Sellers (19) fifth. … Sellers leads the league with seven doubles, McGrath is tied for second with three home runs. … McGrath ranks fifth in batting average (.368).

Upcoming: Should Montana be able to host Utah Valley next weekend, there will be a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday and a single game on Sunday, also starting at 1 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Tristin Achenbach

Colleen Driscoll

Lexi Knauss

Jessica McAlister

Maygen McGrath

Katie Pippel

Cami Sellers

Maddy Stensby

McKenna Tjaden

Brooklyn Weisgram

University of Montana Athletics